Hi Jo
Pleased to hear things have settled down there as they have here thankfully although I have the patter of tiny feet again. It's nice to be able to report pleasant events and not sad ones. Tasha has hatched 9 out of 10 chicks so far. There is no sign of the 10th hatching and it's now 2 days late, but she is sticking with it so I'm leaving her to decide. I lifted her nest box into the brooder when they started hatching and made a platform in front of the nest where the chicks can come out and feed and get back into the nest easily and she can reach the food and water from the nest. If it hasn't hatched by tonight and she hasn't abandoned it, then I'll probably remove it and the nest box.
I've been building some new roosts because things were getting very cramped. It's hard work as the stable/hen house walls are rough stone and drilling them with a cordless drill takes a lot out of the battery and I have to keep recharging, so it's slow work. I've got 2/3 of it put up and I've had to lift chucks onto it the past 2 nights, which they have not been impressed at. 2 of them had got the hang of it last night, but the others were adamant they were going to squash in with the adults on the old roost again, which I'm going to dismantle as soon as I have this job finished as it's riddled with woodworm and just provides a good hiding place for mites. They soon found out that the adult chickens and I were more determined than them, although I had to move one particularly rebellious teenager 3 times before she gave up.
Signed the papers for the purchase of my land on Tues, so I am now officially a pauper, but I have my own place. So many things that I would love to do but all require pennies that I can't afford and feed bill is going to be huge this year with all these extra mouths to feed. May have to consider selling eggs.... that's if they start laying some. The girls still haven't got over the dog attack and some of the others are moulting, so it's a matter of 2 or 3 eggs a day at the moment.
Anyway, the drill will be recharged now so I'll head back off to work.
Regards
Barbara
Pleased to hear things have settled down there as they have here thankfully although I have the patter of tiny feet again. It's nice to be able to report pleasant events and not sad ones. Tasha has hatched 9 out of 10 chicks so far. There is no sign of the 10th hatching and it's now 2 days late, but she is sticking with it so I'm leaving her to decide. I lifted her nest box into the brooder when they started hatching and made a platform in front of the nest where the chicks can come out and feed and get back into the nest easily and she can reach the food and water from the nest. If it hasn't hatched by tonight and she hasn't abandoned it, then I'll probably remove it and the nest box.
I've been building some new roosts because things were getting very cramped. It's hard work as the stable/hen house walls are rough stone and drilling them with a cordless drill takes a lot out of the battery and I have to keep recharging, so it's slow work. I've got 2/3 of it put up and I've had to lift chucks onto it the past 2 nights, which they have not been impressed at. 2 of them had got the hang of it last night, but the others were adamant they were going to squash in with the adults on the old roost again, which I'm going to dismantle as soon as I have this job finished as it's riddled with woodworm and just provides a good hiding place for mites. They soon found out that the adult chickens and I were more determined than them, although I had to move one particularly rebellious teenager 3 times before she gave up.
Signed the papers for the purchase of my land on Tues, so I am now officially a pauper, but I have my own place. So many things that I would love to do but all require pennies that I can't afford and feed bill is going to be huge this year with all these extra mouths to feed. May have to consider selling eggs.... that's if they start laying some. The girls still haven't got over the dog attack and some of the others are moulting, so it's a matter of 2 or 3 eggs a day at the moment.
Anyway, the drill will be recharged now so I'll head back off to work.
Regards
Barbara
